Users of peritoneal, ileostomy, and other such bags involving drainage from internal organs into an external compartment are confronted with the problem of how to dispose of the contents of such compartments in a sanitary and convenient fashion. The same is equally a problem to those caring for individuals who must use such a facility.
The simple dumping of a peritoneal or ileostomy bag into a toilet is not satisfactory solution in that that procedure has been found to be unsanitary, permitting germs and the like to escape in the process of dumping or flushing into a conventional toilet.
The need has long existed for an arrangement for an apparatus that would facilitate disposal of such bags in a convenient, sanitary fashion. Efforts in the prior art to address this problem are extremely limited. To the knowledge of the inventor, such prior art efforts, as best known to him, are reflected in U.S. Pat. No. 4,285,076 (1981) to Dickstein, entitled Flushing Apparatus for Ileostomy Bag; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,345,343 (1982) to Shipman, entitled Apparatus for the Cleaning and Sanitation of a Restroom or Lavatory. Somewhat further removed is prior art reflected in U.S. Pat. No. 2,568,857 (1951) to Jacobs, entitled Colostomy Toilet and U.S. Pat. No. 2,700,773 (1955) to Colendar, entitled Hospital Plumbing Arrangement.
None of the above efforts reflect a system as convenient or as sanitary as might be desired. For example, the above reference to Dickstein requires the use of rubber gloves while said reference to Jacobs requires that the individual, or nurse therefor, must still empty the bag manually.
The reference to Shipman is appropriate only for hospital use and cannot be applied to the home area, such being the use for which the instant invention is contemplated. The reference to Colander involves the simple addition of a T-joint to an otherwise conventional toilet arrangement and does not address the problems solved by the inventor's system.